The Deflowering of Eva Van End

After the arrival of an impossibly perfect blond-haired blue-eyed German exchange student, the Van End family can no longer imagine how they ever managed to live with their imperfect selves. Mother Etty is stressed out, Father Evert can’t cope, and two grown-up children are equally dysfunctional.

Trapped in the middle is the youngest, 15-year-old Eva, struggling for attention, and it is through her thick-rim bespectacled eyes that this absurdly funny drama unfurls.

Veit’s arrival is sudden, as are his infiltration into the family, his rise in popularity at school, and the changes in those around him. Not least former wallflower Eva, in whom he sparks a dramatic transformation. What Veit represents is perfection, and in the end, the Van End family learns that perfection is not what brings happiness.

The Deflowering of Eva Van End is the perfect blend of satire and sincerity – biting in its portrayal of bourgeois life, but genuine in its depiction of family life in chaos. An absurd comedy with more than a touch of Wes Anderson, and perfectly slick in its execution. This comic tale is apparently inspired by events in the first- time director’s life. Michiel ten Horn has been cited as one of Variety’s 10 European Directors to Watch 2013.

“That bourgeois families aren’t all that happy behind their white picket fences isn’t exactly a surprise, but “Deflowering” goes beyond that simple statement to show how, to paraphrase Tolstoy, each family member is unhappy in her or his own way.”

– Boyd van Hoeij, Variety

Director’s Profile:

Michiel ten Horn, born 1983 in Amsterdam, graduated from the HKU in 2007, specialising in animation. In 2009, ten Horn directed the shorts Arie and Alex in Amsterdam, written by Anne Barnhoorn. With his debut feature film The Deflowering of Eva Van End, Michiel again teamed up with screenwriter Anne Barnhoorn and they are currently working with on a new feature.

Showing with

The Offshore Account
World Premiere
Daniel Major I UK I 2012 I 4min

A day in the surreal life of a solitary coastal worker. Number 326 is confronted with the true nature of his tedious corporate role when asked to perform an unfamiliar task. The Offshore Account is a smart, Orwellian tale, shot in Northumberland’s Druridge Bay.